Beasts
by five2ndrule
Summary: Very A/U. Kind of my take on a bad horror movie.  Bewarned Bunnies: bad words and violence ahead, that's where the M rating comes in.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! And, hey, this is A/U anyway so it's probably not even them. :P**

**Okay, bunnies this is your red flag moment, this is my version of a bad horror movie so take note:**

**-There is a lot of cussing and quite a bit of violence.- **

**(and by violence, I mean VIOLENCE! -you know, "Ew that's gross! How the heck did they get that many gallons of fake blood?" kind of fun. Actually, maybe not quite THAT bad.)**

**You've been warned.**

**HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY! **

**(sorry it won't all be finished before tomorrow, though. I tried, I really did. It just kept getting longer and I kept getting side tracked. Short attention span and all) :)**

* * *

><p><em>there are some things we hide inside ourselves, that are better left unseen. <em>

_where darkened thoughts are left to reign, where nightmares go to dream._

The blonde's fingers tapped lightly on her steering wheel, keeping in perfect tune with the current song on the radio, her gestures becoming more and more wild as the drum solo began.

She was well on her way to nowhere, and not exactly in a hurry to get there. In fact, she was told she didn't have to even be there until Friday, and according to her dashboard clock, it was just now slowly making it's way into Thursday morning. Not that she minded being a little early of course, and it wasn't like she was missing anything from the direction from which she came. In all reality, her apartment building should have been condemned years ago, and her social life could probably compete with that of the half eaten turkey sandwich she forgot in the refrigerator.

"Damnit, I wanted that sandwich." she grumbled as she checked her GPS again, sighing when it still showed the town that she passed over an hour ago. "You are completely worthless, do you know that?" she sighed as she tapped the screen a few times, groaning as it suddenly went black. "Well, screw you too ya unhelpful bastard! Maybe one day you'll grow into something more useful, like a hole in my head." she grumbled, grabbing the small device roughly before throwing it over her shoulder, smiling a little to herself as she heard it bounce a couple of times as it make it's way to the floorboard.

"Alright, Josie, that means that you're in charge of the map now." she explained, reaching over and pulling a map from the glove compartment. "I'm pretty sure we're already about halfway to B.F.E. but I have no doubt that with your superior map reading abilities, you'll have us there in no time." she smiled towards the large cage strapped into the passenger side seat. "Hopefully before we run out of gas and are attacked by backwoods dwelling cannibals or something. But, you know, no pressure." she smiled sweetly. Glancing over, she caught the creature's large black eyes staring back at her blankly.

"Yeah, I know, no more scary movies for awhile." she mumbled as she chanced a look outside into the passing darkness. "Wait, do you hear that?" she whispered, tilting her head slightly to one side. "Sounds kinda like we have a low tire. Which is IMPOSSIBLE right? I mean, I know I checked them before we left." she chuckled nervously. "Because, I don't know about you, but I REALLY don't wanna be stuck out here in the middle of the night. No ma'am!" she laughed slightly. "Not that I'm scared or anything..." she clarified, ignoring the knowing gaze of her navigator.

"I'm gonna...just go ahead and change the CD now if you don't mind." she said, pushing the CD eject button quickly. "We can go back to Mr. Zombie later. Now, where's my Reba CD?" she asked in the direction of her companion, who's only answer came in the form of a sneeze. "That's not very helpful, but bless you anyways." she smirked as she rummaged.

"Ah, here we go, number 3. And don't even try and act like you don't LOVE this song, Josie." she smiled as she watched little furry paws snatch the closest part of the folded out map and bring it up to waiting teeth.

"And no, we're not lost! So, stop looking at me like that and stop eating the map." she said, pulling the brightly colored map just out of reach of greedy fingers. "Last time you ate half of Texas and we almost ended up in Mexico." she scowled playfully. "Now, let's see...The last town we passed was this one," she placed her finger on the map and tried her best to read it upside down while still taking periodic breaks to check the dimly lit highway ahead. "So, that means that we're somewhere in this general area." she smiled as her finger made little circular motions. "No wait, that's a lake."

"Gah! Who builds a freakin' 'haven for misused and abused animals' in the middle of NOWHERE? By the time anyone got there, most likely they'd be dead." she made a face before glancing towards her traveling companion. "You didn't hear that. I never said that." she nodded, turning back towards the road. "Possitive thinking, Arizona. Possitive thinking." she mumbled to herself.

"Besides, a job's a job, right? Not that we were doing much back home...This could be just what we needed to get out of our slump, you know? Yes, ma'am, possitive thinking, that's the key. Nothing bad is going to happen to us on this dark, barely lit, highway. Nope, no trolls or chupacabra, no giant knife wielding hitchhikers who want to wear our skin to fancy parties, no way, just you and me and a whole, big, new world of opportunity!" she exclaimed, raising her fist in the air.

"...Well, us and that truck that's been behind us since we last stopped for gas." her brows fused as she adjusted her side mirror. "Oh good, maybe they can tell us how to get to the next town." she smiled overzealously towards her furry friend who was now shifting about almost nervously, her tiny collar jingling with her movements. "Yeah, you're right, they'll probably just want to eat us." she mumbled as she pushed harder on the gas, letting out a little happy noise as she watched the needle rise.

"Yeah baby! We're not going to be anyone's side dishes today!" she cheered, a short lived victory as the noise from her back tire increased with her speed. "Okay, that CAN'T be good." she whispered, fear tickling at the base of her throat, a feeling she happily ignored in favor of anger.

"Oh, COME ON ya worthless piece of...I don't wanna be stew!" she yelled even as she slowly pushed the brake. "I didn't make it half way through college to end up as someone's supper, DO YOU HEAR ME? You damned sorry excuse for a car, you want us to be turned into jerky DON'T YOU?" she said, slamming her hand against the dashboard a few times. "And now...we're pulling off the road." she added dryly as she turned slightly, doing her best not to end up in the ditch. Looking in her rear view mirror, she groaned as the large truck behind her pulled off as well.

"Maybe they're friendly cannibals." she nodded quickly as she reached out and tapped the top of the cage. "Maybe they're full of other people who've had their fill of bad luck and just want to help us get back on our...Yeah, no, we're totally dead." she said as she watched a mountain of a man pull himself out of the drivers side door.

"That is a huge man." she gulped slightly as he made his way forward in the one remaining street light. "And, oh, look, he brought some friends." her eyes widened as two other figures stepped forth from the darkness.

Looking around quickly, she grabbed for any potential weapon she could find in the darkened cab of her explorer, rolling her eyes when all she came up with was a pair of sunglasses, an empty coffee cup and a broken spork.

"Okay, time to worst case scenario this, alright? In all likely hood, they're probably just here to help." she said, her eyes darting back towards the approaching figures. "But, you know, if not, I'm sure I'd make a lovely rump roast and you'd make the cutest hat the world has ever seen." she smirked as everything but a tail disappeared beneath a well worn blanket. "Scaredy cat."

"Hey!" she jumped as someone banged on the mostly closed window beside her head. Turning slowly, she was met with a long, dark beard that partially covered the front of a pair of worn overalls.

"Umm, hi." she smiled nervously. "How can I help you?"

"I think maybe me and the boys should be helping you." the large man said, leaning down to bring his large head into view, his face so close she could see his breath in the cold night air as it fogged up the rest of her window.

"Are you with Triple A prechance?" she asked, undoing her seat belt and scooting a little ways from the door. "'Cause if you are, WOW, you guys are good."

"Why don't you come on out and play." he smiled and he reached for the door handle.

"No, I'm good, thanks." the blonde smiled sweetly as she hit the lock button, giving herself a little mental point as the man's face fell.

"Don't make me come in there, bitch." he said, tapping his giant knuckle against the glass. "We ain't been following you all this time for nothing."

"Now, you see? I knew you looked familiar. You were one of the guys who offered to fill up my tank. Although, I think we both know you didn't mean my car." she smirked slightly as the mountain outside her window shook slightly with laughter. "Does that line work well on women?" she looked thoughtful. "Maybe I should try it."

The man stopped laughing suddenly as his massive head came back into view. "I just knew you were a dyke!" he said, pointing towards her through the window.

"Yes, I must be if I'm turning down all of that goodness right there." she gestured towards him.

"You fucking bitch!" he yelled as he gripped the door handle again. "You better hope we don't get in there!"

"Ha! I'd like to see you try you big...Oh, shit." she said, her eyes growing as the explorer started rocking back and forth violently. "Me and my big mouth." she mumbled as she had to maneuver around the large cage on her way to the passenger side door.

"I don't think so!" a voice laughed as one of the other men appeared behind the glass.

"Shit!" she cried as she fell backwards across the front seat. Leaning over, she quickly grabbed her jacket out of the front floorboard before reaching over to hit the button for the back door. "Okay Josie, Mommy's pissed off some locals and now has to run, but she'll be back for you as soon as possible, okay? Okay. Love you. Be brave!" she called as she rolled herself into the backseat.

As soon as she hit, she climbed over the top of the seats and into the back, landing on top of the few pieces of luggage she owned. Cursing under her breath, she popped her head up briefly to make sure the human tow truck and his friends where still at the front end, before lifting the back hatch quickly and rolling out to her feet.

Looking around offered little in the way of options, so, pulling on her jacket, she turned and high tailed it as fast as she could towards the trees that lined the right side of the road, hoping against hope that no one saw her.

"HEY! THERE SHE IS! HEADED THAT WAY!"

Stopping to look back didn't help her confidence as she saw the group of men slowly making their way towards her, the smallest one in front wielding a flashlight as the other men's large pocket knifes snapped open, their blades gleaming in the street light.

"Wait. I'm not going in there!" she heard one say hurriedly, his voice low and just a little shakey. "That's Webber's woods, Bill!"

"The fuck you're not, move your ass!"

Taking a breath and cursing her luck, the blonde pushed forward into the darkness, praying that whatever was up ahead was better than what was behind her.

* * *

><p>And so, she ran. Until her legs ached and her lungs burned. Until the shadows in the distance became a black cloud that surrounded her completely.<p>

She didn't know where she was heading, but she was sure it was better than whatever Bill and the Darryl brothers had in mind.

_Anywhere has to be better than a crock pot_. she reasoned to herself as she jogged forward through the trees. _Or, even worse, a wedding chapel. _she added dryly as she made a face. Yeah, that was much worse.

Chancing a glance under her shoulder, she smiled slightly when she couldn't see their lone flashlight behind her, couldn't hear their mocking voices echoing throughout the trees any longer. She didn't know where she was heading, but she was more than pleased to be going there.

Failing to turn back around quickly enough proved to be a painful decision, however, as she suddenly found herself face first in a fresh puddle of mud.

"Please let this shit be mud." she mumbled as she tried her best to free the grit from her mouth.

As she readied herself to return on her journey to somewhere else, she heard something move from the direction she had come from. _Please don't let it be one of those assholes._ she prayed to any nearby forest deity that would empathize.

"Hey, I think that bitch went this way!"

_And the losing streak continues! _she mentally grumbled._ Alwell, back to running then._

Pushing herself up quickly, she walked on the tips of her feet to make as little noise as possible, cursing to herself as she tripped over a stump. With her arms stretched out in front of her, she walked blindly in the direction not currently occupied by large men who were more then willing to give her things she didn't want. Squinting, she was just able to make out a large boulder up ahead in the moonlight. Sure, it wasn't the ideal spot to hide, but for the moment it would have to do.

_This is insane! I'm in the middle of a damned forest being chased by a group of backwoods, inbred, five teeth between the three of them, stupid sons of..._

"I found a piece of her jacket!"

_Damnit, I like this jacket!_ she grumbled, glaring over her shoulder in his general direction. Learning her lesson from the time before, she turned back to the task at hand quickly, doing a little inward happy dance as she turned in time to avoid a fallen branch.

_Ha! Yay me! Now...to the giant rock! Wait, where the hell's the..._

Her eyebrows barely had enough time to form an adequate WTF face before she make full face contact with something solid. Stepping backwards slighty, her eyes widened as large hands grabbed her wrists.

"Hello, cupcake." the giant of a man smiled wickedly as his friend shined his flashlight into her eyes, making her see little stars for a second or two. "Did you miss us?"


	2. Chapter 2

Shaking her head didn't seem to help much as the tiny, dancing spots decided to come along for the ride.

"No, not really, if I'm going to be completely honest." she said, reaching up as far as she could, trying her best to remove the parading vision killers manually. "I was actually kinda hoping maybe you were eaten by a troll or something." she smiled sweetly. "But I suppose even trolls draw the line at cannibalism."

"What did you just call me?" the big man's eyes narrowed.

"She called you a troll, Bill!" the shorter man laughed, the light reflecting off his glasses. "Sure, there was a lot of unnecessary chitchat in between, but she sure as hell did!"

"Shut the hell up, Ned!" Bill shouted, before turning back towards the blonde. "You think you're so goddamned smart don't you, slut?"

"Well, I used to. But I think you and Ned here have got me beat by a long ways."

"I think she's making fun of you again, Bill." Ned whispered.

"Shut the fuck up!" the large man said, letting go of one of Arizona's wrists to backhand the smaller man.

"Well, that was unnecessary." Ned grumbled as he picked himself back up slowly, wiping the blood from his lip. "She started it." he added, pointing towards the captive blonde who simply shrugged.

"Just shut up and go get Jasper, you dipshit. We're all going to have a turn at this beauty." he smiled, the spit in his beard gleaming in the glow of the flashlight.

"Sure thing, Bill." Ned nodded, jogging away, his light bobbing along with him through the trees.

"Yes, indeed. And a good time it will be too." Bill said, grabbing a fistful of blonde curls and bringing it to his nose, laughing as Arizona struggled to pull away. "You should save your energy, dyke. We got a long way to go before this night is over."

"You do understand what dyke means, right? It means that all of this that you got going on..."she gestured with her eyes towards him. "Is not really in my interests." she explained, making a face.

"That's just because you've never had a real man!"

"That's what my mom says." she sighed dramatically as she wiped what mud she could off her face.

"Alright, enough talk, sit your ass down." Bill commanded, grabbing her shoulder tighly and pushing her backwards, smirking as she lost her balance and ended up on her back. "Why don't you save yourself some trouble and just stay there." he said, pulling his pocket knife back out, snapping it open with a flick of his giant wrist.

"Why don't you save yourself some trouble and go fuck yourself." the blonde hissed, lossing a bit of confidence when the giant began to laugh.

"You got balls girl, I'll give you that."

"If I had balls I'm pretty sure this wouldn't be an is, of course, unless that's how you get down, then more power to you." she smiled as even though she couldn't see his face, she could see his outline start to shake slightly. "But then, if that was the case, you wouldn't even need me. Not since you have atleast two friends, that I know of, that like to come out here and play with you in the woods."

Her short victory was brought to an abrupt end as she felt a large hand connect with the side of her face.

"You FUCKING whore!"

"Ow." she brought her hand up to her cheek and blinked a few times as her eyes watered.

"That'll teach you to open your goddamned mouth!" he said, pointing his large, sausage of a finger in her face. "Should just leave your ass here, let the Beast of Webber's Woods have a go with you." he smirked. "Maybe then you'd learn some manners."

"I'm sorry? the BEAST of Webber's Woods?" the blonde chuckled slightly. "Aren't you a little old for fairy tales, Bill?"

"It's real, I swear it! My cousin Jasper saw it." the big man nodded solemnly. "Says it has eyes of fire and breath of smoke." he said, looking around nervously.

"Does your cousin drink a lot?" she asked, the side of her mouth curling up a bit as Bill turned back towards her quickly.

"Not a drop." his voice lowered. "He knows what he saw."

"Hmm, well...maybe it was a dragon." she shrugged.

"You think you're so smart, don't you?" he growled through the shadows. "All you damned city folks just can't wait to tell all us hicks just how smart you think you are. You people just have no respect for the ways things work 'round here."

"Okay..." the blonde started, turning her head slightly away from the man's beer battered breath. "So tell me, how DO things work here, Bill? What is so damned important that I seem to be missing?" she huffed, throwing her arms in the air. "Because from where I'm sitting, it looks like we're smack dab in the middle of a pitch black forest YOU claim some monster calls home, and..." she gasped. "All of your friends have gone missing." she whispered.

Looking up, she could see the whites of the man's eyes clearly even through the darkness, as he looked quickly from side to side. The man was scared. No, that wasn't right, the man was down right _terrified_.

"No, they'll-they'll be here. Just got a little lost is all. They'll be here." the giant whispered, more to himself than her it seemed. "Agh...Where the fuck are those guys? NED! JASPER! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?"

Looking up at vague outline of the bear of a man standing over her, Arizona couldn't help but notice he was starting to shake slightly.

"Come on, you guys, this isn't funny!" Bill hollered into the forest, his voice bouncing back to him sounding just as nervous.

"I'm sure they'll be back any minute now." the blonde said, scooting herself backwards until she came into contact with the large tree behind her. "You know, unless they got eaten by the Beast."

"Shut up!" the giant screamed, bringing his blade towards her in his massive hand. A hand that, she couldn't help but notice, was shaking like a leaf. His focus shifted once again as he turned back towards the darkness, his eyes scanning for any sign of movement.

"Bill, I think maybe..."

"I said shut up!" he cried, clamping his paw of a hand over half her face as he leaned down towards her ear. "Do you hear that?" he whispered, fear making his voice high and breathless.

Putting on her best face of concentration, she closed her eyes tightly and tried her best to focus all the energy she could towards her ears. But even with such a self impressive effort, the only thing she could make out was Bill's heavy breathing and the sound of her own heartbeat.

"I don't hear anything." she replied as best she could behind her makeshift muzzle.

"Exactly!" the large man exclaimed harshly, bringing his face within an inch of hers. His wide eyes reflecting terror and long forgotten nightmares as his breath rose around them. "No birds, no crickets, hell not even a goddamn bunny rabbit for fuck's sake! NOTHING! There's a whole shit load of NOTHING!" Taking a deep breath, he wiped his forehead quickly before continuing. "You know, my Grandaddy used ta tell us stories 'bout these woods that gave me nightmares almost 'til I was grown." he whispered low beside her ear before standing up.

"Are you okay, Bill?" she whispered back as she pulled the large man's hand from her face.

"There are some things in the dark that should never be seen." the bearded giant quoted, taking a few steps backwards, his head returning to it's back and forth motion. "Voices in the nothingness that should never be heard." he added, his own voice starting to shake. Stopping suddenly, he stood at the very edge of her vision, where she could barely distinguish him from the darkness that now seemed to do it's best to overtake his form. "There are monsters in the shadows." he whispered, his voice drifting back towards her slowly, as if he were already miles away. "You should run." he stated simply, before turning himself quickly and disappearing among the darkness.

From her place against the tree, Arizona sat staring at the last place she had seen him for a few seconds, before blinking a couple of times and shaking her head to bring her thoughts back from wherever they went to try and make sense of the big man's words. "Okaaaay." she whispered to herself before tilting her head slightly and listening to the heavy footsteps as they made their way, she assumed, back towards the highway.

Using the tree's trunk, she eased herself up slowly, frowning as the side of her face began to throb. "Damnit, Bill." she whispered harshly as she rubbed the reddened spot gently. "If I ever see you again I swear I'm going to punch you in a very impolite place." she grumbled. "Asshole."

Taking a step forward she stopped, looked around slightly and shrugged, before heading in the direction the giant had ran, figuring it was the best point of reference she had at the moment. Rubbing her arms to try and regain some type of warmth, she stumbled forward through the trees, with rare strips of moonlight as her guides through the otherwise pitch black forest.

"Okay, Bill, how far into this thing did you guys chase me?" she asked no one in particular as she walked along, cursing as her light sources where becoming further and further apart. Stopping for a moment, she huffed slightly, watching her breath rise up like a lifting fog before she became thoughtful. If she was following behind Bill, how come she couldn't hear him anymore? Sure, he had a good head start, and fear can make you move like your head is on fire, but surely such a large man would get winded easily, right? He couldn't be that far ahead...

Suddenly, she saw it. There, in the distance, was a beam of light calling to her from it's place amung the dead leaves lining the forest floor. Feeling a renewed sense of confidence, she laughed as she ran towards it, ignoring the slight sting of the low branches as their sharpened points kissed her jacket, undoubtedly ripping it apart worse than it had already suffered. Racing forward, her vision tunneled as she focused on her goal, the light source now within a few yards of her running legs.

Raising her arms in victory she cheered as she closed in on her treasure, right before her feet went out from underneath her. With a slight 'Oompf', she landed hard but was atleast able to put her arms out before hand this time. As her already bruised nose stopped within an itch of dirt, she couldn't help but grin. Perhaps her luck was looking up after all.

Reaching out she grabbed onto the flashlight greedily, bringing it to herself as she wiggled her shoulders in a small victory dance before making her way back to her feet and continuing on her way. "If I fall one more effin' time out here, I swear I'll...fuck!" she cried as she stumbled once again. "Damn Heely shoes!" she grumbled as she turned to shine the flashlight towards her ground attacker. "Just my luck I'd trip over a twig, or a leaf, or hell even a breeze would probably...Ah, hell."

Her eyes widened as her light stream hit the culprit. "That is not a twig or a leaf." she whispered, her voice cracking as she took a unstable step backwards. "That is a Ned." she pointed a shaky finger towards what as left of the man as the light from his glasses bounced back towards her. "And I'm guessing THAT's a cousin Jasper." she reasoned to the trees as the glow from her new flashlight started to shake as it fell upon the other man's back.

"And now...it's time to run." she stated, hopping backwards a few steps before turning and taking off as fast as her legs would allow.

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><p>Her breath came up around her head as clouds as she willed herself to move faster. Something had killed Ned. Something had killed Jasper. Something big, it seemed. Something that was most likey still relatively closeby. The thought clawed it's way into her mind and sent shock waves down her spine. She had to run faster, she had to get away.<p>

Ignoring the pounding of blood in her ears and the pain in her chest from the cold, she pushed herself harder, dodging trees as they came into her limited vision and leaping stumps like a super star. Ahead in the distance, she saw the lights from the highway slowly come into view, making a line of brightness that beckoned to her like a lighthouse on troubled seas.

"Just a little further! Just a little further!" she chanted as she ran towards what she hoped would be her sanctuary.

Moving forward she forced herself to concentrate on nothing but the path in front of her and her own wild heartbeat. She had to ignore the fear. She had to ignore the pain. She had to ignore everything else and just keep running as fast she could towards the light.

As her first foot hit the aspalt, she cheered as best she could with her lungs burning as she allowed the street lights to bathe her in light, to embrace and engulf her completely. Falling to her knees she breathed long and deep, willing herself to regain some sort of control. It was over. She was safe. Laying backwards, she spread her arms as wide as she could on the road, releasing her torch and giggling madly as her chest heaved, taking in as most air as she could.

Noticing another light source in her peripheral vision, she turned her head to the right and smiled as the back of Bill's big black truck came into view. Sure, he and his friends had followed her down a dimly lit highway and waited until her tire went suspiciously flat to try and have their way with her, and sure, they chased her into a pitch black forest where something had eaten most of them, but she was alive and Bill was alive and that's all that mattered at the moment. She could go about kicking his ass in the future.

"Bill! You waited!" she exclaimed as she lifted herself up and jogged towards the large man who was sitting in the front seat of his equally large truck, his door still open, his radio still blaring long forgotten songs about booze and heartache.

"You're fast for a big guy I'll give you that!" she laughed as she jogged around the side of the truck. Pulling open the passager door, she hopped in quickly, slapping her hand against the bashboard as soon as her butt hit the seat. "Alright, come on, let's get out of here!" she exclaimed, reaching over to lightly smack the large man's shoulder. Her brows fusing when he didn't immediately slam the turck into drive and take off.

"Come on Bill, MOVE YOUR ASS!" she cried towards the still unmoving, staring man as she shook his shoulder roughly.

Bill wobbled slightly from her movements before his unblinking eyes disappeared from sight as his head fell backwards off his shoulders, landing on the street behind him with a sickening thud. With a scream, she scrambled backwards against the passager side door, blindly reaching behind her for the door handle as her wide eyes watched the rest of the knife clutching giant slowly tilt before making a dive towards it's misplaced piece.

Finally finding the handle, she pulled hard, yelping slightly as her weight against the door caused it to open suddenly, leaving her grasping at air as she fell backwards, landing rather ungracefully against the the rocks and dirt lining the highway.

Rolling herself, she laid her forehead to the cold road briefly as she willed herself to calm down as much as possible. There was no sense in running, whatever it was that was stalking them was obviously faster then she could ever hope to be. Closing her eyes tight, she felt the tears start to come. There was no way she making it out of this.

_What am I going to do? What am I going to do? FUCK! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO? _

Looking up proved to offer little comfort as her gaze locked with Bill's from the other side of the truck's wheels. Her eyes widened as realization suddenly rang in her brain like an unholy chorus of demons. Bill probably only got this far because it was busy with the others, and the only reason it didn't get her, was probably because it was chasing Bill.

The most horrible of the thoughts took its time, sinking it's way through her mind slowly as the fear came back with a vengeance. If it got Bill, then it wasn't afraid of the light. Her self declared sanctuary was nothing more then a well lit, all you can eat buffet.

_Well, fuck._

If she couldn't run, then she needed a place to hide. Taking a deep breath, she lifted herself slowly from the ground, trying her best not to look in Bill's general direction again. Turning towards her explorer, she took a small step forward, trying like hell to keep herself from looking back towards the forest of nightmares.

"Just a little f-further, Arizona. You c-can do this." she stuttered slightly, trying to build some sort of confidence inside herself, willing herself to take the next step. "Come on! Just a l-little further." she whispered, the fear beginning to cloud her mind with images of something monsterous coming up behind her.

_It killed them. It killed them all. It killed them all and now it's coming for me._

"It's f-fine. Don't look back. Don't l-l-look back. There's nothing there." she mouthed to herself, taking another small step as tears began to fall. "There's n-nothing there. Just Don't. Look. Back."

In the distance, she imagined she heard movement somewhere beyond the borders of the light as something big made it's way towards her.

"Don't look back. Don't look back. Don't look back."

She heard a loud huff as the thing that did not exist stopped moving when she did, and as she closed her own eyes briefly, she could feel it's line of vision burning into her back.

"Don't look back. It's not r-real. It's not real."

As her tears flowed freely, she pushed herself forward, determined not to be beaten by her own fear and some kind of creature that was born of terror and an over active imagination. But as she leaned forward to take the next step, she felt more than heard the nightmare behind her move forward as well.

Closing her eyes tightly, she turned her head towards the darkness. She had to know for sure. She had to prove it was all in her head, that she was fine. That there wasn't something looming in the edge of the darkness, watching her every move. She had to look now, or she'd be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life.

"It's not real. It's not real." she whispered, willing herself to take some sort of comfort in the words even if she didn't truly believe them. "It's not real. I'm fine."

When we are scared, we can see things that aren't there. When we are scared, we can hear voices belonging to no one telling us secrets we wished we had long forgotten. And as her common sense wrestled with her figments of imagination, it tried it's best to whisper calming words.

_Everything is fine. There is nothing there. There is no such thing as monsters. Open your eyes and see._

Without necessarily understanding why, she obeyed almost instantly, her blue eyes sparkling in the street lights as she looked towards the darkness beyond.

And there was nothing there. Nothing at all. Nothing but a giant rock hidden halfway by shadows as the light shone down from above.

A small sound of joy burst forth from her chest without her even realizing it. There was nothing there. Just a rock, and as far she knew, she had nothing to fear from a rock.

_But, wait. Had that rock always been there? Wouldn't I have seen it before? _her voice of reason whispered as it joined forces with her fear. _No. It wasn't there when I starting running. It wasn't there because it's..._

"Oh, shit." she whispered, her eyes widening as the boulder slowly began to change shape before her.

As the shadowed monster leaned back onto it's haunches, a massive head with pointed ears came slowly into view. It's eyes burning like fire as the heavy breath from it's muzzle rose into the air like smoke curling into the night sky. Swallowing hard, she started to take a small step towards her adandoned explorer, eyeing the still open hatch briefly before switching back towards the Beast.

Titling it's massive head, the creature's ears twitched slightly before perking up as it watched the slowly moving blonde. It licked it's lips with a blackened tongue as it took a single step forward, sniffing the air quickly as it's focus shifted to something behind her.

"DO. NOT. MOVE." she heard called in her direction, but she was too transfixed on the glowing eyes of the Beast to comprehend much of anything. She watched as the monster lowed itself closer to the ground, it's ears flattening against it's giant head as a low growl started in it's chest before billowing forth from it's throat. Spinning on her heels, she stumbled quickly towards the voice.

"Damnit, I said DON'T MOVE!" was yelled towards her, but it became quickly overrun in the blonde's head by the sound of thunder as the Beast took chase.

Feeling the ground beneath her start to shake as the monster pounded it's way towards her, Arizona's tears began anew she felt it close in. Looking up, all she could make out through her blurred vision was a dark haired figure running towards her from the other side of the street.

"GET DOWN!" the woman screamed as she got closer.

The blonde barely had enough time to slide to her knees before her savior was jumping over her head, colliding hard with the already airborne creature. The duo came down heavily less than a foot from her, and she had to roll to the right quickly to avoid being crushed as they struggled.

It was all too much really, her head was starting to feel light as her vision worsened, and the fighting began sounding further and further away. Looking up past the street lights, she smiled at all the pretty stars as the nothingness quickly started taking over, and as reality slowly drifted away from her, a dark head appeared in what was left of her peripheral vision briefly before moving away.

"We better bring her with us." she heard a distorted voice say just before the entire world went black.


	3. Chapter 3

As the night came down around her, she tried her best to block it from crawling into her brain, but the events of late had left her tired, and she had no more fight left to give.

Time moved slowly in her world of dreams as she ran from the shifting things that seem to surround her in the darkness. Shadowed figures grabbed for her amidst the laughing trees as men with flashlights silently screamed for her to help them from just beyond her reach.

"There are some things in the dark that should never be seen." she heard Bill's voice echo through her mind as she pushed herself to run faster. "There are monsters in the shadows." The big man's words rang throughout her head as he came to run beside her down her winding path to nowhere. "You should run, cupcake. You should run."

"What IS IT, Bill? What am I running from?" she screamed breathlessly as the giant simply shrugged.

"I don't know." Bill replied, glancing behind them as he pulled slightly into the lead. "Maybe it's a dragon." he laughed, his laughter booming all around them like thunder from above. Suddenly, his eyes grew wide as he reached out and grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to slow to a stop.

"What the hell, Bill? We can't stop! IT'S COMING!" she cried, pointing to the nothingness from where they came.

"Do you hear that?" he whispered as he turned towards the void. "Because I don't hear anything." he said sadly, his head falling back from his shoulders as the rest of his body went back to running, quickly leaving the blonde and it's navigational system behind.

Her eyes widened as she stared, her mouth moved but no words came forth. She felt her own fear kick into over drive as what was left of the giant rolled down amongst the fallen leaves, his terror filled eyes never once leaving her own. "Eyes of fire and breath of smoke." he whispered as his eyes shifted quickly from one side to the next. "Eyes of fire and breath of smoke!" he repeated, his voice lowering tremendously.

"Eyes of fire." he growled as his own eyes burst into flames. "And breath...of...SMOKE." he finished, the last word sounding terrifyingly inhuman as smoke billowed forth from his open mouth, surrounding her entirely.

"You should run." the now almost demonic voice laughed as suddenly the Beast appeared before her, it's massive muzzle just inches from her face. She had no time to run, she had no time to even think as it abruptly lunged forward, swallowing her whole.

* * *

><p>Blonde curls shot forward as Arizona awoke with a start, her sudden gasp finding it's way back to her quickly in the small space while her head cursed her now wide open eyes as the harsh light above bore down upon them mercilessly. Reaching up, she tried her best to ward off such a rude awakening, but found herself unable to move as large metal cuffs held her down to the table below. Still only half based in reality, she could almost hear the Beast of her nightmares laughing as it mocked her from her now quickly fading land of dreams, a sound that still somehow surrounded her even as the real world slowly came back to her fog filled mind.<p>

"Fire and smoke." the voice echoed back to her almost happily as she turned her head as far as she could from the sudden brightness, her chin coming to rest close to her left shoulder as she closed her eyelids tightly, hoping to close out the part of her mind that wasn't already waist deep in denile, the part that kept going on about hungry creatures and was now in the middle of a fresh chorus of I told you so's.

"Monsters in the shadows." it whispered as it slowly began to fade, returning to her place of nightmares to wait until sleep took over her senses once more. "You should run..."

"Just shut up." she mumbled to herself as she shook her head to clear out the cobwebs and few lingering mind demons. "There's no such thing as monsters." she declared, shoving the rest of the argument to the back of her mind, refusing to allow her thoughts to linger in such places any longer.

_Okay, focus. What now? _she wondered as her brain's attention was forced to shift, catching up a few seconds later with it's best thinking cap already in place as it tried to connect whatever pieces it could from the jumble and fog that was the last hour or so, groaning a little to herself as it came up with mostly 'error' messages and 'missing file' reports.

_Well, fuck._

Switching directions, she decided to go with Plan B, even going so far as to try and shut out the rest of the world so her concentration wouldn't be broken before she realized she didn't have a Plan B.

_Okay. Don't panic. Just come up with something else. Let's see...Plan A: Don't get caught in the first place. Yeah, that one worked out just fine_. she curled her lip slightly as she went through a mental list of possible plans. _Okay, Plan C: Cry. Yeah, I don't think I'm quite there yet..._

_Plan D: Play dead. Plan E: ...Okay, the hell with this, Plan J: Just run the fuck away!_ her common sense kicked back in just as she was about to make Plan E have something to do with elephants.

Wiggling her limbs, she let out a small huff as her restraints failed to let up even a little. "See? This is where the elephant would have helped." she smirked as she jerked her arms about a few more times, letting out a couple well placed grunts to help the process along.

_Okay, this isn't working..._

"Hello?" she called into the air around her, listening as it didn't seem to get very far before it quickly made it's way back to her. "HELLOOOO? CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?"

"We can hear you." a female voice took over the room briefly, making the blonde jump a little, and was followed closely by the sound of static and a soft click.

"What the..." Arizona turned her head as far as she could to each side, searching every inch she could until her eyes fell upon a small intercom to the right. "Hey! LET ME GO!" she cried, flailing around a little.

"I'm sorry but that is no longer an option."

"Letting people go is always an option!" she replied "...preferably before you kill them." she added under her breath. "Where am I?"

"It is less a matter of where and more a question of why." the voice returned. "WHY are you here?"

"I have NO IDEA, but I'm pretty sure I was just kidnapped." she answered dryly. "I BETTER GET A PHONE CALL!"

"Calm down, Miss Robbins. Someone will be with you shortly." the intercom fizzled before going completely silent.

"Yeah, well, whoever it is better be a whole lot bigger than me because I'm not going down without a fight, do you hear me?" the blonde exclaimed, shaking her fist as best she could. "Growing up with a name like mine you learn to throw a punch, and I don't play fair either, I pull hair and everything!" she smirked to herself briefly before her brows fused. "Wait a second, how do you know my..."

Her words caught in her throat and her eyes widened as she watched the large halo of lights above her slowly grow dim, before one by one they started going out.

"Hey! What are you doing?" she called nervously towards where the voice had come from. "You can't turn off the lights while I'm still in here!" she cried as her eyes shifted from one side to the next, trying to unsee the shadows that were quickly closing in on her, her most recent nightmares rushing their way back into her mind.

"There are monsters in the shadows!" she screamed as she pulled hard against her restraints, closing her eyes before the last bulb had a chance to die, it's sickly flickering image burning into her mind as she felt the fear build up quickly inside her gut before snowballing it's way towards her brain.

_Don't open your eyes. Don't open your eyes. Don't open your eyes. _

Gritting her teeth, her closed her eyes tighter as she fought back the first wave of tears, her hands becoming fists as she began to shake. She had seen it. She had seen the Beast and no amount of self delusion could bring her back to the world she knew before, the one where monsters were things of fairy tales, made up by lairs to scare the excitable masses.

She had seen it's hungry gaze and the aftermath of it's destructive nature, she had seen it's eyes follow her across her shattered sanctuary as it moved in to collect it's final victim of the group before somehow being taken down by some nut job who apparently wanted her for their own sick devices.

She had seen it's eyes of fire and breath of smoke. She had seen it. And worse yet, it had seen her as well.

That means that it knows what she looks like, what she smells like. Hell, it could probably even taste the terror that seemed to roll off her body in waves. It knew everything it needed to know to find her once more, and it could find her so easily here, if here was still anywhere close by.

_It's not safe. This place isn't safe._

The doom laced thought landed hard inside her chest as she struggled to breathe, forcing the seemingly unwilling air to cooperate as she drug it into her now burning lungs in large gulps, as her mind started to bathe itself in a new form of panic. The air around her grew hot and she struggled to free herself once more, her new found dread pushing her forward as the table began to vibrate from her efforts.

"YOU HAVE TO LET ME GO!" she screamed as a single tear pushed its way out of it's prison. "IT'S COMING! IT'S COMING FOR ME!" her voice cracked as she pushed it through her oxygen deprived throat, crying out as a hand came down suddenly to cover her mouth completely.

"Dude, calm down, nothing's coming to get you."

Her eyes shot open to find a young man standing over her with a small smile on his face, the newly relit overhead light giving him almost an eerie glow.

"See? You're okay." the man's grin grew slightly. "Nothing to worry about." he said as he removed his right hand slowly from her mouth before patted her shoulder softly, but the table bond blonde seemed to want none of his comfort as her eyes left his to dart quickly around the room looking for any sign of lingering shadows.

As she searched every corner, her gaze locked briefly with that of a tall woman with dirty blonde hair who seemed to be studying her carefully as she held down the bottom part of the table, probably waiting to see if the smaller woman was going to start a fresh batch of freak out.

"It's not safe." Arizona whispered to them as she began a new visual search of the room. "It's not." she shook her head.

"Ooookay, time to go back to sleep?" the man asked, turning his head towards the other woman. At her slight nod, he half grinned as his focus came back to the blonde on the table, his left coming partially into view accompanied by a wicked looking needle.

"No, please!" Arizona pleaded, as her vison blurred slightly from her new tears as she felt the slight burn of the needle making it's way into her flesh. "You don't understand! They're waiting for me! I CAN'T GO TO SLEEP!" she tried to explain even as her eyelids grew heavy enough to close on their own accord. "I can't go to..."

"Well, it looks like you went anyway." the young man chuckled slightly as he took off his plastic gloves. "I don't get it. What's her problem?" he asked, turning toward the taller woman as he walked backwards towards the door, watching as she gave the now unconscious blonde one last thoughtful look.

"It doesn't matter." she replied as she reached out and flipped the small light switch off. "By the time she wakes up again, she'll be well on her way to the pit." she added as they shared a knowing look before she closed the door, leaving the small room behind them as it was once again overcome by darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **...**Yes, I know. She's on her way I promise.**

**Anyway, moving on... **

**Thank you for all your thoughts, motivations and inspirations and I hope not to disappoint anyone as we get further into this story. Let's see if we can keep this thing interesting. (like I said, BAD horror movie)**

**And a special thank you to my sister/part time beta reader, Shelanor. Who let me interrupt her serious gameplay of killing zombies so I could bounce ideas (and stuffed teddy bears) off her head as I went into long rants about characters and writer's block while she politely nodded towards the T.V.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Robbins."

She heard the voice but couldn't place it's source, too far gone in the eye level fog that encased her land of nonsense was she, and the two hands shaking her shoulders did nothing but make her head bob slightly back and forth.

"Dude, wake up." a second voice started in.

The words made their way into her head but they made no connection to anything she could grasp as familiar, so she quickly pushed them aside in favor of more unconsciousness.

"It's time to open your eyes." the first one returned with a lowered tone and suddenly there was pain radiating from the right side of her face. Again.

"Damnit, Bill. If you slap me one more time..." the blonde mumbled as the world slowly came back into focus. Opening one eye, she shot a glare towards the man she expected to find in front of her, her other eye joining it's partner in confusion as they landed on the rather amused face of a tall blonde.

"Who's Bill?"

"He's..." Arizona took a moment to try and find term for what exactly the big man was in relation to the situation at hand, but quickly came up blank as she realized he had nothing to do with anything anymore because he was... "Dead." she said slowly as her eyes blinked in realization before turning back towards the tall woman. "Who the fuck are you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Yes, he is." the woman nodded, overstepping the question aimed at herself as she pushed a rather large red button to her left, causing the small corridor to fill with noise as sirens and flashing lights bid their new guest welcome while the massive doors behind the woman groaned their disapproval at being awakened. "Did you kill those men, Miss Robbins?" she asked, turning her head slightly to watch the doorway as it slowly opened.

"What? NO!" Arizona exclaimed as she thrust her duct taped wrists towards the woman, getting only a few inches before the hands on her shoulders pulled her back roughly.

"Dude, calm down." the man said as the captive blonde glared at him over her shoulder. "You're going to need all your strength in there." he added as he nodded towards the large, stadium sized room that was slowly coming into view behind the now mostly open doors, watching as his partner come to stand to his left before placing a wide strip of tape over their unwilling patient's mouth.

"The rules are simple, Robbins." the tall woman said, ignoring the narrowed eyes aimed at her head as she grabbed Arizona's right elbow, her eyes following the moments of her helper as the young man moved to grab the left.

"Kill The Minotaur before it kills you." she explained as the two of them pulled the reluctant blonde forward, simply picking her up as she started kicking her feet and thrashing. "Do it quickly and we might actually find a use for you." she added, her partner and she sharing a slight smirk while watching the smaller woman's eyes widen as she took in the sprawling labyrinth that filled the sparsely lit chamber beyond once they came to a stop at the edge of the doorway.

"Mind the drop." the man said as they turned her slighly before pushing her forward, a small chuckle escaping him as he caught the death glare aimed their way as the blonde made her descent.

The fall itself couldn't have been more than ten feet or so, but that didn't make it hurt any less as the concrete below seemed to come up quickly to meet her. She managed to spin herself slightly but with her hands still bond the only thing she could really do was close her eyes and hope for the best.

Her right arm screamed as it made first contact, the impact of her awkward landing sending shock waves through her body as her gasp of pain was held captive by the tape covering her mouth. Rolling slightly, she came to rest on her back as she looked up to find two sets of eyes watching her from above.

"Good luck!" the young man said, wiggling his fingers in a childish wave as his partner reached over and hit the button one more, the doors bringing themselves back together just as slowly as they had opened while he laughed at Arizona's own verison of a hand gesture.

The few, scattered lights that were left on the ceiling shone down wholeheartedly, but they still didn't seem to do much in the way of lumination as Arizona took a few seconds to glare at the now closed doors just in case anyone on the other side could feel the heat from such an unhappy face.

"Assholes." she said as best she could around her silencer before reaching up to tear it off quickly. "Ow, damnit." she mumbled as she shot the door one last look for good measure. "Fucking ASSHOLES!" she screamed now that she could once more, listening as it bounced around unevenly as it went in four different directions at once. Sure, in the long run it wouldn't mean anything but at the moment it made her feel atleast a little better.

Pushing herself up, she ignored the throbbing of her arm as she took in her new surroundings, wiggling her bare toes against the cool stone beneath as she eyed the enclosed place she now found herself in, wondering what kind of warped ass people built massive rat mazes in their basements.

"Well, on the bright side, maybe there's cheese." she mumbled, rolling her eyes. "Or maybe a burger." she smirked slightly. "'Kill The Minotaur', yeah, no problem Madame Insanity. And while i'm at it, maybe I'll take on Nessie and some nearby leprechauns." she grumbled as she started to eye each opening throughly, using all her acquired skills of quick wit and navigation to choose which way to continue.

"Eenie, Meanie, Miney, Moe." she smirked as her finger stopped in front of the second path to the right. "And heeeere we go." she announced to the ten foot tall walls surrounding her as she started on her way, smiling a little to herself as her voice came back to her sounding just as enthused.

As she made her way further into such maddness, she couldn't quite tell if the passageways were getting smaller, or simply that her mind was having a small laugh at her expence as the darkened corners seemed to bow and twist, taking a small vacation from where they're supposed to be to shift and dance as if born from a flame. Humming quietly to herself, she checked each opening that passed, making sure to side step any and all that she couldn't see clear through to the next junction, lest something wicked awaited her arrival.

"Pssft, hey!"

Arizona's head shot up and she looked around quickly, half expecting to see some sort of monster glaring down at her from the top of the seemingly haphazardly placed walls, watching her as she became more and more lost. Instead, she found herself somehow meeting the glaze of a woman, who's look of confusion mirrored her own.

"Are you The Minotaur?" the woman whispered, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Mere, no one's going to tell you if they're The Minotaur!" another voice pitched in as the woman wobbled slightly.

"You don't know that!" the woman exclaimed, looking down at someone on her side of the wall. "Some of these people are not all that bright."

"You got that right." the other laughed.

"Are you aware that I can hear you?" Arizona asked as she skipped a little further down the wall to look around the next opening, smirking as she made it just in time to see the two woman topple over, the lower half yelping slightly as they fell.

"I am aware." the shorter of the two explained as she pushed herself to her feet, quickly grabbing a nearby baseball bat she had undoubtly placed there, leaving her friend behind on the floor who seemed quite content to stay right where she was. "I am very aware!" she said seriously as she pointed her weapon towards the blonde. "I am the damned aware wolf!" she announced as she thrust her arms into the air victoriously.

"She is." her companion agreed as she closed her eyes and smiled, wiggling her shoulders a little to get more comfortable on the hard floor beneath.

"Thank you Meredith."

"You're welcome, Cristina." Meredith smiled brighter. "Now...ask her if she's The Minotaur."

"SHE'S NOT THE MINOTAUR!" Cristina snapped as her friend simply shrugged. "Wait...Are you The Minotaur?" the dark haired woman asked as her face suddenly invaded Arizona's personal space.

"Umm, I don't think so..." the blonde said, leaning a few inches back.

"I'm sure she wouldn't tell you if she was." Meredith helped.

"You're probably right." the dark haired woman nodded as she turned away from Arizona suddenly, a thoughtful expression on her face.

The blonde found herself raising her eyebrows in question to no one as the other woman walked slowly back towards her floor bond companion, but decided not to press her luck and instead press onwards into her journey as she found herself tip toeing away as quickly as possible.

"Hey!" she heard just as she was about to round the first corner towards somewhere hopefully less crazy. Grimacing slightly, she turned her head to find the dark haired woman wasn't even looking in her direction, but was instead now standing with one foot on either side of her friends hips leaning over her. "Would you tell me if you were The Minotaur?"

"No." Meredith answered simply, her closed eyes keeping her from seeing the dark haired woman shrug and slowly raise her bat. "But it's not me because I'm never picked for anything." she chuckled as the wooden weapon quickly made it's way down to meet her.

Turning away quickly, Arizona starting running before she could witness such brutality, but that didn't stop the sound from following her down into the next corridor.

_Okay, so, everyone is this fucking place is insane! _her inner voice screamed as she rushed through the maze, taking turns quickly and at random as her bare feet smacked softly against the cold floor below. _And of course with my luck, I'm probably just walking in circles around them._ it groaned as she took another left. _Damned crazy ass people and their fucking crazy ass labyrinths! If I even see those two smug assholes again, I'm punching them both in the fucking face! _she huffed as her lip curled slightly. _Who the fuck do they think they are? Throwing people in insanity ridden shitholes to take on mythological creatures, what the fuck is wrong with..._

She saw it then, a figure in the distance, the walls around it almost seeming too small to hold in such wickedness as it walked along slowly, it's right hand clutching at the handle of a nasty looking battle ax as it's left hand was drug slowly along the corridor beside it. It paused, it's horns patruding skyward from it's bovine head as it turned slightly upward then to the right, as if it was having trouble deciding which hallway to darken next.

"What are you doing?" someone whispered beside her and she jumped a little before cutting her eyes back towards the new monster to see if it took any notice. It's large head jerked some to the left, but it didn't look back as it made it's way forward into the next area. Turning, Arizona glared slightly as her blue eyes met dark ones.

"Hey, Sweet Pea." Cristina greeted happily as she peeked around the blonde's frame. "Whatcha lookin' at?"

"The Minotaur." Arizona said, keeping her voice low as she leaned towards the other woman. "And keep quiet! I don't want that thing coming back!" she whispered harshly.

"What? There's really a minotaur? NO WAY!" the shorter woman practically squealed. "I wanna see!" she added as she pushed her way past Arizona, only to have the blonde grab her sleeve and pull her back.

"Knock it off."

"Hey, no touching." Cristina tsked as she narrowed her eyes slightly before lightening up suddenly. "Hey! We should kill it!" she exclaimed as she nodded a few times to herself. "You think they'll let us go if we do?"

"WHAT?" the blonde whispered harshly as she gestured wildly with her bond appendages "What in the world makes you think..."

"Good. So, we're agreed." Cristina said, reaching forward to grab Arizona's hands out of the air and shake them, smiling a little at the still intact duct tape. "Come on, let's go get Meredith." she said as she pulled the blonde with her back in the direction she came.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Yes, I know and I'm sorry. I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. A LOT. And no, I can't explain because it might give away some stuff ;) But, I had some help from an awesome friend and you should be happy to know that after working out a few kinks, I am now working on the next few chapters all at once. (yay!) So maybe we can get this baby back on track...**

**Oh yeah, and fair warning...ummm, brace yourselves for some 'unniceness'. You've been warned.**

* * *

><p>The two forms in white coats moved slowly down the corridor as they tried their best to balance the weight between them. It wasn't as if the woman they were dragging was all that heavy, but her recent lack of consciousness seemed to add to that particular problem quite a bit.<p>

The more curious of the two chanced one more glance at their captive, wondering exactly how they all got themselves into this mess in the first place, but a quick head shake from her partner told her not to ask any more questions, and efficiently bringing her back to the moment at hand.

There where too many questions to voice now, and there was no way they could just go back to the way things were. No, the tall woman walking in front of them wouldn't have it.

No. She knew better than to question her new boss again. There were too many painful reminders to keep her in line.

Pushing all other thoughts from her mind, she tried to focus on other things, happier times perhaps...anything other then the unconscious woman they were dragging, anything other than the blonde in front of them, her lab coat moving back and forth, as if it too were trying to leave this dark place far behind. Anything other than this damned concrete hallway and where it might lead.

"Stop thinking and just walk." echoed back to them harshly, the speaker never once turning to look at them as she continued on, her footsteps as quick and determined as she was.

Movement beneath her fingertips and a small moan made her eyes widen as her attention shifted back to the woman they were dragging, a slight shimmer of light now where there was none moments before.

"I-I think she's coming to." was whispered quickly, rushed forward from her lips as her partners eyes locked onto her own, each mirroring the others fears.

"Then walk faster." came the simple reply from ahead as the tall blonde waved her hand dismissively.

* * *

><p>Brown eyes tried their best to open as the throbbing behind them started to become unbearable, but the room seemed too bright, the world too loud, and they quickly found themselves shut again.<p>

"Open your eyes, Callie." a voice reached her softly. A voice almost too calm for such a place, too calm for such pain inside her head. A familar voice, a voice she knew, but would much rather have forgotten.

"Erica?" she whispered gingerly, the words pushing their way past the dried blood painting her lips slowly as her eyes tried again, finding more success this time around.

"Hello, Callie." the taller woman said almost softly as her hand came up to stroke the Latina's cheek. "How are you?" she asked with a touch of concern that her face wouldn't mirror as flashes of the past lit the brunette's head like an unwanted picture show.

"What did you do?" Callie questioned harshly as smiling images were replaced quickly with more recent echoes of betrayal. Her eyes narrowed as her hands became fists and she pulled the chain binding her wrists together taunt a few times.

"Consider it a favor."

"Oh, well then...I'll be sure and return it." the brunette snapped, her lip curling.

"Stop that and listen closely." Erica said, leaning forward so that her lips almost touched the other woman's ear. "Don't make this harder than it has to be." she whispered as her fist made first contact.

Closing her eyes tightly, the brunette's mouth opened suddenly, a small sound of pain escaping before she could stop it. A second and third punch hitting their mark soon after, making yesterdays bruises cry out as they joined in on todays fun. Her knees buckled slowly as the blonde in front of her grabbed her arms, almost seeming to help her gently down to the floor below.

"Stay down." she heard softly as she tried her best to catch her breath. "Just tell us what we want to know."

"Fuck you." Callie managed between gritted teeth as she fought to push herself upward.

The next punch came quickly, her jaw shifting painfully as her teeth seemed to raddle.

"I said stay down, Callie."

"And I said fuck you, Erica." the Latina spat out her words, along with the fresh blood that ran into her mouth from her reopened lip as she watched the taller woman's fist head toward her once more, although this one hit with noticeibly less power behind it.

"Callie, please." the taller woman said weakly. "Stay down."

The sudden change in Erica's voice was enough to make her glance up suddenly, the look in the dirty blonde's eyes somewhat distant but unmistakable.

No matter what it once might have stood for, right now that look meant nothing more to the Latina than a dare, a challenge to be met and beaten.

Tightening her jaw, the brunette pushed up suddenly, bringing her feet underneath herself as she stood on shaky legs, the sudden movement catching the other woman off guard as she stumbled back slightly. Locking eyes with the blue ones in front her, Callie leaned back, letting the wall help keep her standing as she began her stare down.

"As you wish." The taller woman sighed sadly as she closed her eyes briefly, allowing the Latina barely enough time to catch her breath as the next punch hit home.

* * *

><p>The monster in the hallway was left alone once more as the women walked back to wherever they had come, the sound of their bare feet gently slapping against the cement fading slightly as they made their way into the distance, one moving rather slowly while the other almost seemed to skip.<p>

Craning it's neck to the right, it listened as the figures whispered briefly before one let out a sharp laugh, the sound bouncing along the corridor before hitting keen ears almost harshly.

Turning, the Minotaur gripped it's weapon tighter, a small huff escaping it's lips before following slowly behind such carefree, short lived, echoes.

* * *

><p>"And then Mere said..." the dark haired woman stopped here to chuckle lightly to herself, as if the joke itself were too funny to continue. "Tell her what you said Mere!" she called out, her voice filled with mirth and disregard for the fact that they were supposed to be hiding.<p>

Taking a deep breath, Arizona rolled her eyes as the sound bounced back and forth around them, sounding like a siren and more than likely sending up the vocal equivalent of a 'Hey! We're over here! Come eat us!' flare. If this was how they were going to stay hidden, she might as well just let the Minotaur kill her now.

"I told her I already had one!" was called back from somewhere close by, echoing towards them and ending with a slight laugh as Cristina herself went into a fresh set of giggles.

"See? Don't you get it? It's funny." the dark haired woman chuckled as she nudged their newest companion a few times before her face became serious. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Hilarious." Arizona replied dryly, her mind on other things as they made their way back into the small clearing, not a bit surprised to find Meredith right where they had left her, eyes still closed and smiling. And with her hands behind her head and legs crossed casually, she didn't look like she was going to be moving anytime soon either. But, wait. Didn't Cristina...?

"Wait. Didn't you...?" she questioned as her finger pointed, quickly moving from one woman to the other a few times before stopping on the way too calm woman currently lounging on the floor. "I mean I thought she..."

"She didn't." Meredith smiled.

"Not that I wouldn't have." Cristina clarified, waving her now reclaimed wooden weapon. "I just have terrible aim." she shrugged as she took a seat next to her friend.

"She does." the other woman nodded.

Opening her mouth, Arizona paused slightly before closing it again. Maybe it wasn't the right moment to tell them.

"You people are insane."

Though it mirrored her thoughts, the blonde was pretty sure the words weren't her own as she turned her head, looking for the source.

"Up there." Meredith pointed without much thought or interest as Arizona turned her search upward to find a small redhead sitting on the top of one of the walls, looking about as nervous as humpty dumpty about to fall. "She's been up there being a creeper since you guys left."

"I am not a creeper." the small woman snapped back. "It's safer up here." she explained as she nodded a few times to herself.

"Kepner!" Cristina announced, making the redhead jump slightly and steady herself. "I figured you'd be dead by now." she smiled slightly. "Good for you."

"Umm, thanks." Kepner's brows became thoughtful. "I think."

"Not a problem."

"What are you doing up there?" Arizona asked gingerly, holding her still bound wrists upward as to hopefully pose no threat as she took a few steps toward the younger woman.

"I told you. It's safer." the smaller woman replied slowly, as if answering a child. "I'm April by the way." she smiled before adding a slight wave. "You know, I could help you out of those." she pointed to the blonde's restraints. "I mean, if I were to come down there. Which I'm not." she added matter-of-factly with a shake of her head.

"Get your ass down here." Cristina commanded before letting her prized bat fly, missing her target but hitting close enough for the younger woman to scream and launch herself forward, landing roughly on the blonde below.

* * *

><p>"I don't know what you're crying about." Cristina said, rolling her eyes quickly as she ignored the looks aimed in her direction as she explained her newest plan to take on the Minotaur. "It's not like we're telling you that you have to take on that thing by yourself."<p>

"Yes! We'll help you." Meredith added, not really helping at all.

"You tried to kill me!" April pointed, her eyes still as wide as they were ten minutes ago when she took that fateful plung. "I'm not helping you with anything! Besides, you made me land on Arizona." she pointed toward the blonde who was utilizing her new found freedom by trying to massage away her now ever growing headache.

"I did not. Don't be such a baby." the dark haired woman stated.

"I'm not being a baby! You are completely insane, do you know that? I mean..."

Closing her eyes, Arizona tried her best to block out all the nonsense and bickering of the last half hour or so. They had bigger problems right now. Not that anyone else seemed to notice.

Wiggling her newly freed arms and taking the deepest breath she should manage, she tried to come up with a plan. After all, if they were going to get out of this, it was up to her. Not that she wanted it to be up to her, oh no, she had seen enough of this place to run screaming as far away as the others minds had seem to drift. But, no, it was up to her to get them all out of this. Out of this and perhaps into the nearest sanatorium.

"Ooookay...How about this?"

The blonde made it back just in time to catch Cristina's latest attempt at reason.

"We feed it Kepner."

"WHAT?" April shouted. "What is wrong with you?"

"Oh, calm down, we won't let it kill you." the dark haired woman continued, waving her hand dismissively. "We just need you to let it get in a good nibble while we sneak up from behind." she continued, smacking the bat against her palm in demonstration. "Just choose your least favorite finger." she added with a shrug.

"I like them all!" April protested, hiding her hands behind her back with a slight scowl.

"Pity." the other woman whispered, shaking her head. "I really thought you were more of a team player."

"Yeah. There's no I in team, Kepner." Meredith smiled.

"Yes, but there's quite a few in 'I like my fingers where they are, thank you very much!'" the younger woman huffed.

"I counted one."

"Okay, so it's settled." Cristina cut back in, bouncing slightly. "Kepner is bait."

"Hey! I never said..."

"Will the three of you just shut up for one second? I can't even hear myself think!" Arizona growled as two sets of hands pointed toward the youngest to place blame. "Oh my god, I don't care!" she screamed as stressed fingers found their way into her hair, leaving it sticking up in about twelve different directions. "Just shut up so I can figure out a way to get us out of here."

"...And kill the Minotaur." someone added.

"Shut up, Cristina." the blonde warned, quickly turning her focus to the small redhead who was currently in the process of opening her mouth. "You too, April." she added, watching the youngest of them quickly close her mouth in favor of going into full on pout mode.

* * *

><p>The sudden silence proved useful to those wise enough to use it, although at least one of them was currently preoccupied by humming showtunes inside her own head to take note.<p>

Far too focused on what lies ahead, they failed to notice what was slowly making it's way toward them in the darkness.


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, so, sorry for how long this took to get out here, (and for how short this update actually is) but, I hope I can be forgiven if I tell you I am actually working on these things again. (or, at least, trying my best) So, yes, please enjoy, and I'll try my best to update soon.**

**Thank you guys for being so patient. :)**

* * *

><p>It was dark where she was now and probably where she came from, she really couldn't tell the rooms apart anymore. One for sitting, one for beating. One for questions, one for nothing but darkness.<p>

She had spent so much time in the dark lately, she wondered if it had somehow attached itself to her, that maybe she would never truly see the sun again.

This place, wherever it was, was different from the places she could remember, not that it was much anymore. How long had she been here, in this room? What day was it, and what month?

...and did it really matter?

As long as she was still alive, maybe that meant she was still important somehow. That maybe they hadn't found what they were looking for just yet.

Good.

Let them search.

As long as she kept her mouth shut, maybe they would never find what they were looking for.

Smiling hurt but she did it brightly, her lips cracking under the stress of her new-found joy. The chains binding her to the wall jingling with her mirth as her sides started to ache, laughter jolting pain throughout her newly broken ribs.

No. They needed her.

She knew the one answer they wanted, but the target was safe as long as they had nowhere to aim.

Good. Fuck 'em.

Let them walk blindly for a while, see what they think they uncover.

She smirked as she wiggled her toes a bit, the only victory dance she could manage at the moment.

Let them chase their tails like stuffy-nosed bloodhounds for a bit. She hummed softly.

Let them search. She could wait.

* * *

><p>All was quiet in the world of the Minotaur.<p>

The creature in the hallway. The monster in the pit.

The voices from somewhere up ahead seemed to soften briefly, before laughter rang out throughout the darkness, dancing back and forth between walls before slamming into the monster's mind. The mockery and mirth

burning into its heavy head relentlessly as what face movement it could manage twisted into a snarl.

Secrets. They're sharing secrets.

Fools. Ingrates. Didn't they know the consequences? Did they know, and simply not give a damn? Those assholes. Those bold assholes.

No. The secrets had to be kept secrets.

The beast shook violently and the walls around it wielded the grunts of its dissatisfation.

Those fools.

It's heavy fist met the wall repeatedly.

Those damned, happy fools.

* * *

><p>"We should probably try and get some sleep." April said, breaking the silence of the last few moments as most of the party struggled to catch their breaths from laughing.<p>

"For once, we agree on something!" Cristina pointed out, letting out one last chuckle before pushing the smaller red head's shoulder slightly.

"Great." Kepner drawled.

"Wonderful." Meredith agreed, missing the red-head's eye roll as she rolled over from her current position, not two feet from where she landed in the first place. "We can kill the Thingamajing in the morning."

"How do you know it's not morning already?"

"Good point. Off you go then." Yang laughed, shooing April forward a few steps.

"Oh, Ha. Ha." the red head glared. "I told you, I'm not being the bait!" she added a pointed finger for emphasis.

"And I told you, I don't care what you told me."

"Cristina!"

"You two knock it off!" Arizona grumbled from behind her hands that were currently covering her face. "And go to sleep already...I'm tired of your bullshit."

"She's talking about you." Yang whispered.

"GO TO SLEEP, CRISTINA!"

"Aye aye, Cap'n!" the woman responded before skipping off to lay with her best friend.

"Finally." the blonde mumbled as she turned on her side against the wall. "Simple ass bitches..." floated from between her lips as her eyes fell, her mind already half way back to yesterday's nightmare.

Kepner watched the others sleep for a few minutes, wondering what exactly was coming for them all in the near future. Monsters? Minotaurs? It was really too early to tell.

Sighing, she got up, someone had to be on look out, after all. Especially with beasts on the loose...

"Having trouble sleeping?" the voice was low, and somewhat far away, but she recognized it immediately.

"Hello, Hahn."


End file.
